My first Trek convention.
Oct. 20th, 2001 11:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
unbibiumI showed up about three hours into the first day of the sci-fi convention they're having at the civic center right now. I don't know what I expected. More crowds, more costumes, more cool stuff I suppose.
I showed up at the hall and noticed all the empty space. There were probably only half as many people as the space could have comfortably afforded. The hall was divided into two sections: the presentation area, and the booths. The presentation area was showing all manner of Xena bloopers, and such; and there were Xena-related speakers and auctions and such. The booths ranged from videos to photos to medieval weapons, and when I got there, there were no crowds around any of them. A few people scanning them, I suppose, and a few people lingering near a couple of them. Nothing really seemed to command my attention, or that of anyone else, and even the presentation area seemed a bit sparse.
I noticed one table had hundreds of pictures of Icheb from Voyager. The man and woman behind the table introduced themselves as Manu and Natanya, respectively. Then the man next to me talked to Manu about who was hardest to work with. Then I realized, wait a minute, that's Icheb. Anyway, he said something about Robert whatshisname being a little isolated from the rest of the cast; I said that though I may be out of the loop as far as Trek goes, even I had heard he wasn't really "into" the "sci" "fi". I also accidentally found LeVar Burton behind a table. I was very surprised that he didn't have a line to sign autographs. He did have copies of his book, "Aftermath". I asked him what it was about, he said it was a post-apocalyptic novel, and I said "oh, it didn't sound like a biography." He said "it isn't". Hmm. Big story for me. Also, the guy who plays Tyr was just walking around near the end, taking pictures with everyone and giving free autographs out. I didn't say a word to him, but I nodded in his general direction. Well, hey, I had no camera and I don't collect autographs, and I'm shy. I had nothing to gain from meeting celebrities in person, though Manu was pretty cool. He's going to be in a movie called Orange County.
Of course, when you think of conventions, you think of freaks dressed as Klingons yelling at each other, people covered in green paint, and the occasional horror story of a 300-pound man dressed as Xena. None of that here. In fact, after about a half hour of not noticing any costumes, I found three people dressed up: two attractive women in a Starfleet uniform, and a well-groomed man dressed as Q, in his "judge" costume. And I knew the man and one of the women from THEM. I ended up hanging out with them most of the night, and several times someone approached Q to guess his costume and have their picture taken with him, and his friends. Eventually I spotted some other people in Starfleet uniforms, including an entire family. But no TOS uniforms, no Klingons, though I did see one guy carrying a batleth around.
There was one table that was showing Star Trek episodes taped off the Sci-Fi channel. I didn't realize it, but it was a demo of a ReplayTV unit. This resulted in an embarrassing situation where the guy behind the table felt the need to explain to me how it works. I used to be hip, I swear. Also, there was a booth selling medieval weapons. I tried on a chainmail coif. It felt heavy in my hand, but wearing it over my head and shoulders, it actually felt pretty good to wear. It didn't pinch my hair, even. I didn't dare to ask how much it cost, though.
I don't know if mine was a typical con experience. I asked Manu whether all cons are like this, and he said that there's usually more people, and the venue is usually bigger. I don't know if I'd go to another one in Phoenix, though the low turnout might have its advantages for the autograph-seeker, or if there's a ever a guest that I'd really like to meet. And I met up with some friends and hung out. So it was a good time, I suppose.
I showed up at the hall and noticed all the empty space. There were probably only half as many people as the space could have comfortably afforded. The hall was divided into two sections: the presentation area, and the booths. The presentation area was showing all manner of Xena bloopers, and such; and there were Xena-related speakers and auctions and such. The booths ranged from videos to photos to medieval weapons, and when I got there, there were no crowds around any of them. A few people scanning them, I suppose, and a few people lingering near a couple of them. Nothing really seemed to command my attention, or that of anyone else, and even the presentation area seemed a bit sparse.
I noticed one table had hundreds of pictures of Icheb from Voyager. The man and woman behind the table introduced themselves as Manu and Natanya, respectively. Then the man next to me talked to Manu about who was hardest to work with. Then I realized, wait a minute, that's Icheb. Anyway, he said something about Robert whatshisname being a little isolated from the rest of the cast; I said that though I may be out of the loop as far as Trek goes, even I had heard he wasn't really "into" the "sci" "fi". I also accidentally found LeVar Burton behind a table. I was very surprised that he didn't have a line to sign autographs. He did have copies of his book, "Aftermath". I asked him what it was about, he said it was a post-apocalyptic novel, and I said "oh, it didn't sound like a biography." He said "it isn't". Hmm. Big story for me. Also, the guy who plays Tyr was just walking around near the end, taking pictures with everyone and giving free autographs out. I didn't say a word to him, but I nodded in his general direction. Well, hey, I had no camera and I don't collect autographs, and I'm shy. I had nothing to gain from meeting celebrities in person, though Manu was pretty cool. He's going to be in a movie called Orange County.
Of course, when you think of conventions, you think of freaks dressed as Klingons yelling at each other, people covered in green paint, and the occasional horror story of a 300-pound man dressed as Xena. None of that here. In fact, after about a half hour of not noticing any costumes, I found three people dressed up: two attractive women in a Starfleet uniform, and a well-groomed man dressed as Q, in his "judge" costume. And I knew the man and one of the women from THEM. I ended up hanging out with them most of the night, and several times someone approached Q to guess his costume and have their picture taken with him, and his friends. Eventually I spotted some other people in Starfleet uniforms, including an entire family. But no TOS uniforms, no Klingons, though I did see one guy carrying a batleth around.
There was one table that was showing Star Trek episodes taped off the Sci-Fi channel. I didn't realize it, but it was a demo of a ReplayTV unit. This resulted in an embarrassing situation where the guy behind the table felt the need to explain to me how it works. I used to be hip, I swear. Also, there was a booth selling medieval weapons. I tried on a chainmail coif. It felt heavy in my hand, but wearing it over my head and shoulders, it actually felt pretty good to wear. It didn't pinch my hair, even. I didn't dare to ask how much it cost, though.
I don't know if mine was a typical con experience. I asked Manu whether all cons are like this, and he said that there's usually more people, and the venue is usually bigger. I don't know if I'd go to another one in Phoenix, though the low turnout might have its advantages for the autograph-seeker, or if there's a ever a guest that I'd really like to meet. And I met up with some friends and hung out. So it was a good time, I suppose.
